About

How to Move a Mountain with Bruce High Quality Foundation

$52,745

pledged of $50,000 goal

275

backers

We’re The Bruce High Quality Foundation, an anonymous art collective based in Brooklyn, NY. For over a decade, we’ve been producing works of art, musicals, films, public interventions, and massive group exhibitions.

The Bruce High Quality Foundation, "Thank You, New York!" 2009

In 2009, we started a tuition-free, artist-run school called the Bruce High Quality Foundation University (BHQFU). With student debt on the rise and art education consistently being defunded, creating accessible and sustainable spaces where artists can learn from one another and grow in their work is at the core of our mission.

We believe that free arts education should be a right, not a privilege.

Over 7,000 miles away, in Zambia, there’s another school that shares this mission. Completed in January 2015 by the 14+ Foundation, the Chipakata Children’s Academy provides tuition-free, arts-based learning to over 200 students, ranging in age from preschool to the 7th grade.

Students in class at the Chipakata Children's Academy

(L) The printing press and (R) a printmaking lesson for the Brooklyn Free School's kindergartners

For this project, our schools are teaming up! Over the next six months, hundreds of artists in our community will use this portable etching press to create original copper plate prints.

Then, with your help, we’ll take the press on an incredible journey from our home in New York to its new, permanent home at the Chipakata School in Zambia. The press will anchor a new printmaking studio program, which will provide the students with the skills, tools, and equipment to create original works of art for years to come.

Prints created by the participating artists and the Chipakata students will be exhibited together in both New York and Zambia next year, showcasing the enormous community this project has fostered.

When we travel with the press to Zambia, we’ll bring along the engraved copper plates used to create the prints. The plates will be installed at the Chipakata school, on an exterior wall facing the mountains, forming a unique, collaborative mural that will develop a natural patina over time.

This is the just the first step in forging a meaningful and lasting connection between our two schools. Our long-term goal is to establish a teaching exchange program where US-based artists can live in Zambia as artists-in-residence, leading courses and workshops at the Chipakata school, and further cementing a meaningful collaboration between artists on different sides of the Atlantic.

College-aged students should not need to accrue massive debt to experience arts-based learning, and primary students should enjoy the benefit of exploring creativity throughout their entire education. Both BHQFU and the Chipakata school have seen firsthand the impact of arts education in our communities and we are invested in continuing to provide this invaluable resource.

Recess at the Chipakata Children's Academy

BHQFU residency alumnus Orlando Estrada guest teaching a free class for high school students at MoMA Teens

BHQFU is a learning experiment where artists work together to manifest creative, productive, resistant, useless, and demanding interactions between art and the world. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, BHQFU was founded in 2009 by Brooklyn-based, anonymous art collective The Bruce High Quality Foundation. It has grown from a small office space in TriBeCa to a year-round free education program and public exhibitions series with hundreds of students annually at our headquarters in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. We also offer cost-free studio residencies to artists, giving them the time, space, and support to realize their work without going into debt.

Over the next year, we’re producing editions of prints created by US-based artists as a future sustainable fundraising model to keep generating support for both the Chipakata school and BHQFU long after this Kickstarter completes. These prints will be part of the New York and Zambia exhibitions next year! For the future of the project, we've got some amazing people confirmed, including:

We’re reaching out to the Kickstarter community because we know, firsthand, the incredible things that can be done when working collectively toward a common goal. We know that Kickstarter provides a one-of-a-kind platform to spread the word about this initiative and get supportive people involved right from the start. BHQFU's success has always been the direct result of a community of students, teachers, and visiting artists who come together to change the world, one class at a time. With an audience as large as Kickstarter's, this is an incredible opportunity for us to get the word out about both BHQFU and the Chipakata Academy far and wide. We invite you to join us in this journey towards reshaping how art is taught and learned, and who gets to participate!

With your support, we’ll take the press to Zambia and build a new studio program for the students. Over the course of two weeks, BHQFU will train students and faculty at the Chipakata school in various printmaking methods. Any additional funds raised beyond our initial goal will go directly to furthering the partnership and building out a teaching exchange program at the Chipakata school.

Pledge $25 - Get one 4x4" Mosaic Mountain Mini Monochrome Painting, one "pixel" from a 5x8ft work by The Bruce High Quality Foundation exhibited at the NADA Art Fair in 2017.

Pledge $400 - Receive an exclusive, signed 20x24" print, "The Wanderer" by The Bruce High Quality Foundation, produced in collaboration with Artspace

Pledge $500 - Hand-painted "Bruce-Faced" copper printmaking plate embedded in a one-of-a-kind, handmade shadow box by The Bruce High Quality Foundation. No two Bruce faces or shadow boxes are alike!

Pledge $500 - Get a private studio tour for you and up to three friends inside The Bruce High Quality Foundation's giant Brooklyn studio. We'll enjoy some beverages and send you off with some Bruce presents!

Pledge $5,000 - Name the portable printing press that's become so dear to us before it makes its journey to Zambia! You'll also get your pick of a framed, unique copper plate print by The Bruce High Quality Foundation!

Pledge $10,000 - Name the Printmaking Program at the Chipakata Children's Academy! Your generous donation will also secure all supplies and equipment needed to get the program off the ground. Plus a unique BHQF print!

This campaign is endorsed by an independent jury selected by Art Basel. Check out their curated page to learn about other great cultural projects.

Risks and challenges

Our most significant challenge is ensuring that we have the time and resources to truly engage with the students at Chipakata, to construct a solid printmaking studio program, and to get to know the local community.

To do this, we require strong seed funding that will enable us to make this first step something monumental in the service of our ongoing collaboration. That’s why we’re asking you to get involved! We’ve generated a significant amount of energy between BHQFU and the Chipakata students already, and are eager to move to action.

Both organizations are brimming with excitement about this collaboration, and we know that enacting the program soon will bring the best possible results! But we also recognize the logistical challenges involved in real community engagement and the building of relationships, so we are making sure to keep a realistic perspective that allows the project’s full timeline to remain somewhat flexible.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $10 or more
About $10

Digital Download Pack

We'll send you a digital download pack featuring two publications from BHQFU and a mountain-themed playlist we've been listening to at our printmaking parties! You'll also be listed as a project supporter on our website.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $25 or more
About $25

Mosaic Mountain Mini Monochrome Painting

For $25, you'll receive a unique 4x4" monochrome painting on masonite by The Bruce High Quality Foundation. Each monochrome painting is one "pixel" of a large, 5x8ft mosaic mountain image we displayed at the NADA Art Fair this year, and each is numbered so you can find your individual piece's location in the larger work!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $50 or more
About $50

Silk-Screened "Copper Plate" Day Bag

A very limited edition perfect, durable everyday bag in olive with a custom metallic, two-sided print (copper plate, copper plate with text). Two handles and 40 in. adjustable strap, to carry in hand or over shoulder. Also includes a bonus BHQFU zine inside!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $100 or more
About $100

Signed BHQF Artist Book

Signed, full color artist book, "Art History with Labor (95 Theses)," by The Bruce High Quality Foundation, 2012. This publication draws on Luther’s 95 theses, which were written in 1577 to protest against the sale of indulgences in the Catholic Church. Perfect-bound, 8x9.25", 200pps.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $175 or more
About $175

Mosaic Mountain "C" Print

Very limited edition collaborations between Artspace and BHQF, these signed 12x18" Mosaic Mountain digital prints come in four different color treatments (C, M, Y, K). Select this option for "C" (Cyan). There are just 50 available of each color treatment.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $175 or more
About $175

Mosaic Mountain "M" Print

Very limited edition collaborations between Artspace and BHQF, these signed 12x18" Mosaic Mountain digital prints come in four different color treatments (C, M, Y, K). Select this option for "M" (Magenta). There are just 50 available of each color treatment.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $175 or more
About $175

Mosaic Mountain "Y" Print

Very limited edition collaborations between Artspace and BHQF, these signed 12x18" Mosaic Mountain digital prints come in four different color treatments (C, M, Y, K). Select this option for "Y" (Yellow). There are just 50 available of each color treatment.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $175 or more
About $175

Mosaic Mountain "K" Print

Very limited edition collaborations between Artspace and BHQF, these signed 12x18" Mosaic Mountain digital prints come in four different color treatments (C, M, Y, K). Select this option for "K" (Black). There are just 50 available of each color treatment.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $200 or more
About $200

Unique Bar Napkin Shadow Box Drawing

A one-of-a-kind Bruce High Quality Foundation bar napkin drawing framed in a customized wooden shadow box. Each drawing is unique and is only available through this Kickstarter campaign. Dimensions with shadow box are approximately 7"L x 3"W x 9"H.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $300 or more
About $300

"Featherweight" Mountain Sculpture

This "featherweight" copper mountain sculpture by The Bruce High Quality Foundation is a great storytelling piece about the "How to Move a Mountain" initiative. No two are exactly alike, and they're only available through this Kickstarter campaign. Dimensions are approximately 8"L x 5"W x 6"H.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $400 or more
About $400

"The Wanderer" Print by BHQF

A very limited edition collaboration (50 prints in total) between Artspace and BHQF, "The Wanderer" is a 20x28" signed digital print featuring a Bruce-ified rendition of Caspar David Friedrich's famous 1818 painting, "Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog."

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

Private Studio Visit with BHQF

The notoriously secretive Bruce High Quality Foundation will invite you and up to 3 guests over to our studio for a private tour and conversation with core members about our projects from the last 15 years. We'll sip some beverages and you'll get an exclusive look at brand new works never-before-seen by the public. We'll also send you off with some great Bruce swag from our projects over the years!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

Unique Copper Plate Bruce Shadow Box

A one-of-a-kind Bruce High Quality Foundation customized wooden shadow box featuring a copper printmaking plate with hand-painted Bruce face. Each piece is unique and is only available through this Kickstarter campaign. Dimensions with shadow box are approximately 10"L x 3.5"W x 9"H.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $750 or more
About $750

Unique Penny Grid Shadow Box

A one-of-a-kind Bruce High Quality Foundation customized wooden shadow box featuring a 15x15 penny grid with one hand-painted Bruce face penny. Each piece is unique and is only available through this Kickstarter campaign. Dimensions with shadow box are approximately 15"L x 3.5"W x 15"H.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,000 or more
About $1,000

Join a Printmaking Session

We'll invite you and a friend to join us at either The Bruce High Quality Foundation or another artist's studio for a printmaking party where we'll be producing works for How to Move a Mountain. You'll get to meet several of the participating artists, and learn how to make your very own print that we'll get framed for you!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $5,000 or more
About $5,000

Name the Printing Press

You'll get naming rights to the traveling printing press that's been used by all of the US-based artists that we're installing at the Chipakata Children's Academy. We'll install a permanent plaque acknowledging your generous donation and send you a personalized "Thank You" video from the students in Zambia.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $10,000
About $10,000

Name the Printmaking Program in Zambia

You'll get naming rights to the printmaking program that we'll develop at the Chipakata Children's Academy in Zambia! We'll install your name prominently in facility. With this generous donation, you are also providing incredible funding to purchase all of the studio supplies needed to get this studio off the ground and running. You'll also receive a personalized "Thank You" video from the students in Zambia and The Bruce High Quality Foundation.